The Mission of a Muggle
by Alexis Sam Potter
Summary: Illianne Stanford gets sent back in time to Hogwarts with the Marauders and save Harry's parents. She originally comes from the USA in 2012, and has no knowledge of magic.Oh yeah, and it turns out that she's a metamorphmagus. Sorry for the bad summary!
1. The Train

**A/N: So this is my first story, so don't judge. I'm planning on having it cover all seven years, and maybe through Harry's era. I know I'll show how the switch (I won't say any more here) effects the story.**

**Disclaimer: The fantastic world of Harry Potter belongs to Ms. Rowling, not me. Only Illianne/Sam belongs to me. Sad, but it's true.**

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><p>I board the train, excited as hell. I'm going to Hogwarts! Since no one came with me to the station, I didn't dawdle getting on. Now, I walk into an empty compartment and stick my trunk of the shelf. I sit down and think about how I came to be here.<p>

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><p><strong>{Flashback}<strong>

It was Friday, and I was walking home from school. I walked up to the door, and opened it.

"I'm home!" I called. Then I looked around for my brother. Usually I can find him on the computer, or tinkering with something in his room. He wasn't by the computer, in the basement, or in the kitchen. I checked his room, and he wasn't there either. If no one was home, why was the door unlocked? I raced to my room, set my backpack down, and was about to dial my brother's cell to ask him where he is, when I noticed that there was a man standing in my room.

"I was wondering when you would notice me." Harry Potter said.

As I took in what I saw, a million things popped into my head. The first and foremost being that this was impossible! Harry Potter's world is fictional, and yet there he stood before me. He even looked to be about 32, the age which he should be, if the dates in the books are correct.

"I know this must be a lot to take in, but I need to talk to you, now." He said, suddenly serious. I nodded and sank into a chair. "You are a witch." He starts. "Now, before you tell me how you should have been told two years ago as you are 13, let me speak. As the year for you to begin Hogwarts arrived, I had an idea. I would take a muggleborn from that year's batch of first years, and send them to my parents' time to try to put things right. I observed every one of you, and in the end decided that you would be most suitable for the task. I had to let you mature a little though, so you would understand your job. I gave you two years. Now I am going to send you back in time to the Marauders' first year at Hogwarts. You will be on their list as if you had been there the whole time. However, there is one complication. You need to switch with someone from that time and place for the change to be complete. I thought that Peter Pettigrew would be perfect, because that helps you in your task to save my parents."

I take in his speech, and then realize something.

"Great, so what's the catch?" I ask, knowing it was too good to be true.

He smiles grimly at me. "You will become an eleven year old again."

**{End Flashback} **

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><p>As the train starts to move, my compartment door slides open, and the person standing there is none other than James Potter, with Sirius Black standing next to him.<p>

"Mind if we sit here?" He asks, but slides in and shuts the door before giving me the chance to answer.

"Of course!" I grin and answer anyway. They sit down, and a second later are staring at me. I get the feeling that they don't know that I know their looking at me.

"What are you staring at?" I ask immediately. "Do I really look that bad?" I grin again.

"Wow, you're good! We were just wondering how long it would take you to notice. No one else has noticed that fast! You must have wicked sharp reflexes. I'm James Potter, by the way." James says and sticks out his hand. I take it, and decide on the spot to change my name. Harry told me that any changes I decide to make about my identity will be fixed on the school record. And I always hated the name Illianne anyway.

"Samantha Gold, but it's Sam. If you call me Samantha, I will kill you." Goodbye Illianne Stanford!

"Wow. How'd you do that?" James asks wonderingly. I'm confused.

"Do what?"

"You're hair turned bright red when you said that! Are you a metamorphmagus or something?"

I look at my hair just in time to see it fade back to black.

"Huh. I guess I am! I never knew that. I'm muggleborn, but I read all about everything magical when I got my letter." I say, inventing the last part on the spot. Sirius is staring at me.

"Anyway, back to the subject." He pauses. "You needn't be so uptight! Oh yeah, I'm Sirius Black... Samantha." He says, and grins.

"What did I tell you about calling me Samantha?" I shriek. Sirius grins again, but stops grinning when I hex him.

"Defloccatus!" I cry. All of Sirius' hair disappears.

"AAAAHH! GIVE ME MY HAIR BACK!" He screams.

"You know what, I don't think I will." I say slyly. He pouts. "Okay, I will... If you promise to never EVER call me Samantha again."

"D-don't worry. W-we won't." Sirius stutters. James nods, and unconsciously runs a hand through his hair protectively. I raise my wand, and am about to remove the hex when we hear a voice from the door.

"Finite Incantatem." I look up, and Remus Lupin is standing in the doorway.

"Hi R- I mean hi! I'm Sam. What's your name?" I ask, catching myself just in time. I curse inwardly.

"Remus. Now who hexed him?" He frowns.

"I did. He called me Samantha, even though I told him expressly not to. I was about to remove it when you arrived and beat me to it." All this rushes out of my mouth very fast, and I hope he isn't mad or upset. To my surprise, he looks impressed.

"That was really advanced magic! We aren't supposed to learn 'defloccatus' until our fifth year!" He says excitedly. His eyes are glowing with wonder. I blush. I didn't realize that I wasn't supposed to know those kinds of spells yet! Well, at least now I have a good reputation, if not as inconspicuous as I had hoped.

"Yeah, I guess so. When I got my letter, I bought a whole bunch of spell books, not just what was needed for school. I figured they would be good to know. And this way, I'll have no problem with variety when hexing those slimy Slytherins!"

"Hey!" James shouts. "Sirius' whole family is in Slytherin!" Oops, I forgot about that.

"And they're all slimy gits." Sirius adds calmly. Then he perks up. "If you're going to hex my cousins, you can count me in! I'll do anything to get back at my awful family!" I look expectantly at James.

"Well..." he pretends to hesitate. "If Sirius is fine with it, then I'm all for it! You're going down, Slytherin." he exclaims. All three of us turn to Remus. I know he'll say yes, if only to be included in a group with friends.

"It's against my better judgement, but I'll join you."

"It sounds like we will be Hogwarts' newest pranksters!" Sirius says gleefully.

James suddenly stands up. No, stands is too gentle. Springs is more like it. Anyway, James suddenly springs up.

"We need a name!" He cries. I knew this was going to happen! I can't just outright say "Marauders," because they'd get suspicious. Ah well, I guess I'll just have to wait until someone suggests it. I'm sure I won't have to wait long. Sure enough, Remus speaks up a minute later.

"How about the Marauders?" He suggests.

"The Ma-what?"Sirius and James shout together.

"Marauder. One who pillages or plunders in order to attain their goal." I rattle off.

"It's perfect!" James bellows. And he's right. That's the essentially the base of the Marauders' existence! I laugh to myself.

"What's so funny Sam?" Sirius asks.

"Nothing, I just like 'Marauders.'" I say hurriedly. "Hey, how come you guys didn't introduce yourselves to Remus? Remus, this is James Potter and this is Sirius Black. I'm sure they are extremely sorry that they were so rude as to not introduce themselves." I say, my hair turning red again.

"Sam, relax. We met earlier in a different compartment." Sirius says soothingly, seeing my hair and realizing that I will explode again if he doesn't calm me. A voice echoes through the train at that time, telling us that we will be arriving in Hogsmeade in five minutes. My, time passes quickly!

"Shoot! You guys, we need to change!" James shouts, jumping up and down anxiously.

"Relax." I say. "We'll just use magic. We're witches and wizards, remember?" I tap my muggle clothes and they turn into school robes, complete with a Hogwarts tie. I'll change it to a house tie when we get sorted.

"Hey, Sam! Will you do that for me? Huh, huh? Will you do that for me?" Sirius asks.

"We will be forever grateful to you!" James adds solemnly.

I doubt that very much, but I sigh and tap their robes anyway, one at a time. I turn to help Remus as well, but he has already performed the spell himself.

"Please leave your luggage in the compartments. It will be transported up to the school separately. You may now disembark the train." The voice echoes around once more. The four of us get up, newly clad in our school robes. As we step off the train, I look around discreetly for Hagrid.

"Firs' years! Firs' years to me!" An extremely large man calls, striding into sight. Wow. Hagrid really is gigantic!

"Yeh'll be gettin' yer firs' view of the castle any minute now!" He says. All of a sudden, as we round a bend, a chorus of oohs and ahhs travel through the group. I see it, as beautiful and great as I imagined it, if not more so. We approach the lake.

"On'y four to a boat, mind you. A'right. Everyone in? Forward!" At Hagrid's words, the little boats start forward across the Black Lake. Remus, Sirius, James, and I are in a boat together. Sirius flashes me a mischievous grin, and a second later I find myself enveloped in freezing cold lake water.

"WHY YOU LITTLE!" I screech.

"Yes, Sam dear?" Sirius asks in an innocent voice.

"Well, I'm not going to be sitting in the lake, soaking and freezing, all by myself! I guess you'll just have to join me!" With that, I grab the side of the boat. All three of them come tumbling in head first.

"Whaddaya think yeh're doing?" We hear Hagrid's voice a second before we are all lifted up by the necks of our robes and set back in the boat.

"All in good fun, Hagrid. All in good fun." James says. We exchange friendly smiles, just to prove our point. Hagrid accepts this, and leaves us alone again. A minute later, the boats reach the shore. We all get out of our respective boats and walk up to the towering front doors of the castle. The doors fly open, and standing before us is Professor McGonagall. She looks just like a certain Ms. Rowling described her! She is a tall black haired witch with a thin mouth and a stern looking face. As always, she is wearing emerald green robes.

The firs' years, Professor." Hagrid tells her. She looks down at us.

"And why, pray tell, are you four soaking wet?" She asks skeptically.

"Well you see Professor, Sirius here pushed me into the lake. Then I pulled them in after me. I couldn't be in the lake all by myself, could I?" I explain. She sighs and conjures us four towels. Then she gets on with her speech.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has it's own noble history," "Not Slytherin." Sirius cuts in quietly. McGonagall ignores him and keeps going. "and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." She finishes up and walks out. I smile. Her speech never changes one bit!

"Oi, Sam!" James hisses.

"Yeah James? What's up?" I ask nonchalantly. He looks taken aback.

"Aren't you scared at all about the Sorting? I mean, what if we have to do some sort of test?"

Oh! I completely forgot that no one here knows how we are sorted. But before I can answer him, Professor McGonagall comes back.

"We are ready for you now." She states. "Form a line and follow me."

We quickly forma line and march into the Great Hall behind her. Remus taps me on the shoulder and points up at the enchanted ceiling.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, Sam."

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><p><strong>AN: McGonagall's speech comes directly from the first book. Don't sue me.**


	2. The Sorting Hat

**A/N: I'm still working out how to work this website and such, so if this doesn't come out right, please forgive me. I could use some help please! Oh yeah, how do I get a beta? If someone helps me I will love them forever!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, sadly. But Sam is mine! ALL MINE!**

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><p>We approach the front of the hall, and see a stool. Sitting on it is the Sorting Hat. Suddenly it breaks into song.<p>

_"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_but don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor_

_Where dwell the brave at heart_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry,_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff_

_Where they are just and loyal_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_and unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_if you've a ready mind,_

_where those of wit and learning,_

_will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_you'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folks use any means_

_to achieve their ends;_

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none),_

_For I'm a thinking cap!"_

The echo of the hat's voice rings throughout the silent hall for a few seconds, then everyone bursts into applause. James, Sirius, and Remus all relax visibly.

"When she said 'smarten yourselves up' I thought for sure there was going to be some sort of test! Thank Merlin we just have to try on a hat!" James exclaims.

"When I call your name, you will step up to the stool and put the hat on your head to be sorted." Professor McGonagall informs us.

"Abbott, Rolf!" A tall boy with fairly long shaggy blond hair walks up to the stool. He sits there for 30 seconds before the hat declares him to be in Hufflepuff.

"Bell, John!" He sits as well, but this time only for 5 seconds. "RAVENCLAW!" the hat cries.

"Bentley, Shaun!" sits down on the stool and places the hat on his head. It's only there for about a second before the hat shouts "SLYTHERIN!"

"He doesn't look like a pleasant bloke." Sirius comments. Then he gulps.

"Black, Sirius!"

"Good luck Sirius!" I whisper to him. He walks up to the stool, and puts the hat on his head. I know where he will go, but I pretend to be extremely nervous for him anyway. I watch his face. From what I can tell, he seems to be having an argument with the hat. Three guesses what it's about! Then, after a full minute, the hat shouts "GRYFFINDOR!"

The whole hall falls silent, except for James, Remus, and I. We stand up and start clapping wildly for him.

"Yeah Sirius! WOOOO!" Eventually people begin to catch on, and they start to clap. Sirius walks by us on his way to the Gryffindor table and mumbles

"Bloody hat wanted to put me in Slytherin!"

Professor Dumbledore stands up and clears his throat. Everyone quiets down, and Professor McGonagall calls up "Crabbe, Vincent." He too is placed in Slytherin seconds after the hat touches his head. "Cresswell, Dirk" goes to Ravenclaw, then "Dale, Erin" goes to Hufflepuff. She looks relieved, and as she goes to her table she forgets to take of the hat! She tosses it back for "Evans, Lily!" Oh my Merlin, it's Harry's mother! She waves at Snape, and he crosses his fingers. Bet he wants her to be in Slytherin, the greasy git! Sure enough, his face falls as the hat calls "GRYFFINDOR!" Lily glares at the hat for a minute, then, realizing that it isn't going to change it's mind, looks sadly at Snape. She stomps angrily off to the Gryffindor table. My, someone's just a bundle of laughs today!

"Gold, Samantha!" Sirius sniggers from his place at the Gryffindor table. We both know full well that I can't hex a teacher! I walk up to the stool, and McGonagall sets the hat on my head.

_Well hello there. Someone's hiding some secrets! _

Well, what would you have done?

_No, I see your point. I think I'll get on with your sorting now, disregarding that little tidbit. Let's see. You've a ready mind, eager to learn, you'd do well in Ravenclaw._

No! I've got to be in Gryffindor with Sirius, Remus, and James! Otherwise I won't be able to do my job!

_But you belong in Ravenclaw._

Ah, to hell with where I belong! Just put me in Gryffindor already!

_Alright, fine. _"GRYFFINDOR!" I thank the hat and practically fly towards the Gryffindor table, and land in the seat next to Sirius.

"Congrats on making Gryffindor, Sam!" Sirius yells.

"And to you!" I yell back and grin. "You sure gave everyone a shock, huh Siri?"

"Siri?" he asks, skeptical.

"Yeah, never heard of an affectionate nickname?"

"No, no, I like it. Just surprised. I'm not used to affection. My parents are very formal, strict, and unloving. Oh, and probably going to kill me for being sorted into Gryffindor." He scowls.

"Well, you are going to have to get used to it. Anyway, back to the subject at hand. You sure gave everyone a shock, huh?"

"Yes I did. I'm very proud of myself! After all, not everyone is so stunningly handsome that one look at them makes everyone speechless!" He says jokingly.

"You are so thick!" I slap him on the head with a book I happen to have with me. Suddenly, we hear "Lupin, Remus!" Both our heads shoot up. Seconds later, Remus is running towards us. He plops down on my other side, smiling wildly.

"Great job Rem!" Sirius shouts.

"Rem?"

"Nickname." I put in. "I called him Siri, and now he's obsessed with it. Oh, and yeah. CONGRATS!"

"Ah. Well then." Remus says, before turning to Sirius. "I see you surprised almost everyone. I suppose that's a good thing, right?"

"Yeah. The only way they wouldn't have been surprised is if I went to Slytherin." Sirius hissed at the thought of his family.

"Don't think about them, Siri. We're your family now." I said. "When's your birthday?" I added as an afterthought.. I had decided that mine would be New Year's Day, but at midnight. This should be fun!

"Halloween." He told me, perking up at the thought.

"Mine's New Year's Day. I guess that makes you..." I grin at him. "My big brother!" I tackle him in a huge hug. "Hey, I just noticed. We're both holiday birthdays! Not just holidays, but the two best ever!" I shout, realizing that this is, in fact, true. We were talking so loudly that we couldn't hear McGonagall, until...

"Sirius! Sam! _James!"_ Remus said, frantically pointing. Sure enough, it was James' turn to be sorted. We looked up just in time for the hat to shout "Gryffindor!" James came running towards us and bounced into the seat across from me. Remus got up and went to sit next to him so that there were two of us on either side of the table.

"Well, that's all of us!" James cries giddily after a second.

"Yep, but it's that Evans girl as well." I reply glumly. Who cares if she's Harry's mom? She's unbearable! And I have to live with her!

"What's wrong with her?" James, Sirius, and Remus all inquire at the same time.

"Well, first off, she has no house pride. She would rather be in Slytherin with that greasy git Snape!" I gesture towards the front, where Snape has just been sorted into Slytherin. The hat didn't even touch his head, for crying out loud! "Second," I add "she thinks she knows better than the Sorting Hat!"

"Snape? That kid with the greasy hair who was just sorted into Slytherin and looks up to his nose in the Dark Arts?" Sirius asks. I nod angrily. They look over at him.

"Now I see why you're mad. Well, at least you have those other three, MacDonald, McKinnon, and Prewett as well." Remus says soothingly.

"You might be right, but I bet their just as disgustingly girly as Evans."

Dumbledore stands up, and the whole hall falls quiet. It's then that we notice that the sorting has finished.

"To those who are new, welcome! To those who are returning, welcome back! There are speeches to be made, but now is not the time. For now, I will leave you with a few words to think on. And those words are cartwheel! Horsefly! Snowshoe! Tuck in!" At his last words, the feast appears on the table.

"**FOOD!**" James and Sirius both scream at the top of their lungs. I laugh at them and start in on my own meal. Dinner is fairly uneventful, as James and Sirius are both stuffing their faces to quickly to make any noise or cause any commotion. After a bit, dinner disappears and is replaced with desert.

"**PUDDING****!**" Sirius and James shout happily. Remus gives me a look that clearly says 'here we go again!'

The whole school finishes their pudding as James and Sirius are starting on seventh helpings. As they finish their tenth helpings, Dumbledore rises again. "I trust you boys are finished now?" He asks, chuckling merrily. They look around and _finally _notice that everyone else finished long ago.

"Yes sir! It was marvelous!" They shout jovially.

"I'm glad. Well, now that everyone has been fed and watered, I have a few start of term announcements. Firstly, a Whomping Willow has been planted on the school grounds." I sneak a look at Remus, and notice that he has paled considerably. "I would advise that no one goes near it. Secondly, Mr. Filch has an updated lost of banned items posted on his door. And lastly, first years should note that the forest on the edge of the grounds is forbidden. Now, off to bed, all of you!" The Gryffindor prefects stand at the end of the table, calling for the first years. The four of us get up and follow them to the Gryffindor Common Room. When we get there, we are shown the dorms. I rush up immediately, before the other girls can get there. I sit down on the bed closest to the corner. The girls walk in, and claim beds. They start chattering loudly, and I plug my ears, trying to sleep. Lily sits down suddenly on the end of my bed.

"What on earth are you doing? This is my bed." I state calmly. She looks at me as if I'm an alien.

"I'm being friendly. I'm Lily Evans, by the way."

"How is sitting down on someone's bed who is clearly trying to sleep being friendly? Oh, and I knew that. Some people paid attention during the sorting." I say coolly.

"It is being friendly! I am sitting here trying to become friends with you!"

"Well, maybe I'm not interested. If that's your way of becoming friends, I'd rather not, thank you very much." With that, I push her off my bed and pull it further into the corner. Then I draw a line on the floor.

"What on earth are you doing?" Lily asks rudely. I ignore her pointedly.

"None of you are allowed to cross this line. If you do, you will face my wrath. If you want to know how bad I get, just ask Sirius how his hair is." I tell them.

"You can't do that! It's unfair to the rest of us!" Lily whines.

"Oh? How so?" I ask coldly, giving her my best death stare.

"It's... er... it's..." Lily stutters, cowering.

"Well, glad that's se-"

"It's unfair cause you can't block off a piece of the room! It's all of our room." She says quickly, but very uncertainly.

"How badly do any of you wand this little corner of the room?" I ask them. They all shake their heads mutely. "And how many of you have a problem with it being my private space besides dear Lily here?" Again, they shake their heads mutely.

"Well, glad that's settled. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to hang out with my friends." I say the first part in a falsely cheery voice, and then stress the word 'friends'. The girls gape at me as I leave. I smile when I see the boys sitting in the squashy arm chairs by the fire. Running over to them, I take a flying leap into the fourth and final chair.

"Hey boys! Any room mates?" I ask.

"Nah, it's just the three of us." James shrugs.

"Great! That means I don't have to worry about anyone getting mad when I visit you guys." All three of them nod vigorously, and I grin. I can tell that Remus has already started to change from the shy, rule abiding bookworm we met on the train. He'll always be a bookworm, but no longer does he seem to worship the rules like the ten commandments, nor is he so shy.

"Say, wanna come up now?" Sirius suggests. As we go upstairs, I notice the sign on the door. It reads

"First year boys dorm"

"You know boys," I say, "I don't think they got the sign right." I tap it with my wand so that it says

"The Wonderful and Most Awesome Dorm of the Marauders"

"There. That's better." I say, satisfied. "What do you think?"

"Wow, great work Sam! It looks awesome!" Remus exclaims.

"You got that right! It describes us so much better." James says enthusiastically.

"Yeah! It's really good! Well, shall we?" Sirius adds, opening the door. We all pile in, and I plop down on the nearest bed.

"I hope you boys don't mind if I stay here tonight until the last possible second, because I just can't STAND Evans!" I say. Sirius and James nod, and Remus sighs.

"What did she do this time, Sam?" He inquires.

"The brat sat down on my bed without my permission" at this James looks at the bed I'm on pointedly. "This doesn't count, it's an extra! Anyway, she decided that sitting on my bed when I was trying to sleep was how she was going to make friends with me. She wouldn't move, and I told her I wasn't interested in being her friend. When she still didn't move, I shoved her off, then dragged my bed into a corner and blocked it off. She then decided that I couldn't do that, for no good reason! 'You can't do that. It's unfair.'" I finished in a mocking voice. "And she can't even come up with a good reason for WHY it's unfair! It just is! I mean, can you guys see anything unfair about it?" I demand.

"Uh, well, Sam?" James says timidly.

"Yes, Jamesie?" I reply mock-sweetly.

"Don't you think you may have been a little bit harsh?"

"No." I reply shortly. "I need my space. All I did was show people where it is. You can't possibly expect me to sit up every night with them, giggling sickly about the rumor mill, can you? I mean, you've known me for what, a few hours now?" When I stop, we all start laughing. After all, we HAVE only known each other for a day. Even still, we are already the best of friends, as close as family.


	3. The Marauders

**A/N: Hi! Sorry I was gone for so long. Many long adjustments, including skipping a grade in the middle of the year. So, without further ado, I present chapter three! Oh yeah, I own nothing but Sam. But Sam is all mine! No one else's!**

"Hey! Gold! Wake up!" A bucket of ice cold water hits my face. I open my eyes, and who else but Lily-Freaking-Evans is standing above me, smirking. I jump up.

"What did I say about crossing that line? That's right, I told you NOT TO!" I scream, and then look at the clock above the dormitory door. It reads 7:30 AM! ON A SATURDAY! "And what's the big idea, waking me up this early on a weekend? It's SATURDAY! We don't have classes! Why on Earth are we all up?"

"Well, we all," Lily gestures to herself, Mary, Marlene, and Alice, "are going to the Great Hall for breakfast and to get our schedules. We thought you'd like to join us…" She trails off.

"No, I bloody well do NOT want to join you!" With that, I stomp out of the room and down the stairs. I reach the bottom and smack straight into my fellow Marauders.

"Morning Sam! We thought we heard your dulcet tones!" Sirius greets me cheerfully.

"Yes, whatever did Evans do to you now?" Remus adds jokingly.

"And why are you sopping wet?" James asks suspiciously. All of a sudden, none of them are laughing. Apparently, they just noticed that Evans actually _did _do something. I growl angrily.

"The brat dumped a couple liters of icy water on me this morning. I'm f-f-f-freezing!" I chatter through gritted teeth. Then I start shivering, and they look at me worriedly. Remus immediately taps my pyjamas with his wand, and they dry instantly. Getting his idea, Sirius dries my hair and James turns my pyjamas into robes, all with several wand flicks. I smile gratefully at them all as Remus summons my wand from my bedside table for me.

"Thanks so much g- ACHOO!" I sneeze.

"Let's get you to the hospital wing." James says hurriedly.

"ACHOO! D'you know where - ACHOO! - it is?" I ask and sneeze again.

"No, but we'll find it." Sirius says firmly. The four of us walk out of the portrait hole quickly, me sneezing and shivering all the way. Suddenly, after we have been walking for about five minutes, I feel my knees go weak, and a second later they give out. I collapse on the floor, and James, Sirius, and Remus are all at my side at once. Sirius is wringing his hands nervously, and Remus is muttering under his breath, something like 'oh no, what did the blasted girl do now?' James, seeing that I'm in a stable condition, straightens up.

"Remus, Sirius, get McGonagall!" He cries, and they both get to their feet again. They are about to head off in the direction of her door when McGonagall herself appears behind us.

"What is going on out here?" Then, spotting me, "Oh, Ms. Gold! Quick, bring her to the hospital wing! What are you still doing here?" She frets.

"Erm, Professor, we have no clue where it is." Sirius points out.

"Oh, right. Of course. Potter, pick her up. Follow me!" She turns on her heel and marches off. James hastily scoops me up, and the four of us rush after her. Remus and Sirius are standing on either side of James and me, arms crossed protectively. Luckily, we run into no one and arrive in two minutes. McGonagall pushes the doors open. I sneeze loudly again.

"Quick, Poppy! The child is sick!" She calls. A moment later, James lowers me onto a bed carefully. I shiver, and sneeze once more. Madam Pomfrey comes running in.

"Here, drink this. It'll stop the shivering." She thrusts a red potion at me, and I drink it. I cough, but stop shivering immediately. I smile at her gratefully, but then let out a violent sneeze. She shoves a few more potions at me, and we learn that I had caught a very severe version of a Muggle flu, only since I'm a witch the affects were sped up. Luckily, magic can heal it in a snap. I swallow all of her potions, and she releases me reluctantly. I thank her, and we leave.

"Thanks, guys." I say. "Especially you, James, for carrying me."

"No problem, Sam! That's what friends – I mean family – are for!" James replies. Then he turns to Remus. "Hey Remmie, what time is it?" Remus was the only one of us to have a magical watch, so was therefore the only one of us to have one that worked inside Hogwarts. He informs us that it is ten thirty, which means breakfast has already ended. Sirius starts complaining about missing the most important time of the day, meal time, so we agree to go search for the kitchens.

"I expect they'll be on the bottom floor, so they can send the food up." I suggest ecstatically. We're going to find the kitchens! I am so excited it isn't even funny!

"Hey, you're right! Great idea! Let's go!" Sirius shouts impatiently, bouncing up and down excitedly. With that, we make our way down to the basement.

"I doubt there'll be a sign saying 'welcome to the kitchens' on the door. They don't really want every single student marching in there at all hours of the day, coming and going as they please." Remus says wisely. I avoid their eyes. I know exactly what the door looks like, but they must never know that. I shake myself and tune back in as James suggests that we split up and feel the walls. We each take our own separate hallway, but stay within shouting distance. I turn a corner and stop short. There is the painting, right in front of me! I walked up to it and brushed the pear lightly with my fingers. It lets off a giggle and transforms into a doorknob. I shout in carefully faked surprise.

"Guys! Remus! James, Sirius! Boys! I found it!" I call happily. The three of them come running.

"What did you do?" James inquires.

"Well, I was walking along with my hand on the wall, and my fingers brushed the painting. When I touched the pear, it sort of giggled, almost like I was tickling it. Then it turned into this door knob!" I tell them, and twist the knob. We go in, and house elves are immediately swarming us.

"What can we do for you Sirs, Miss?" They are all asking eagerly.

"Wow." Is all James and Remus can say. Sirius, however, turns to a house elf and starts rattling off a long list of what he wants to eat. James stares around for a minute, then says

"Guess we know who makes our food now!" I shrug, and turn to order my own food. Remus and James do the same, although none of us get anywhere near as much as Sirius. James gets a ton, but even still, if you put our three plates together we would still have less than Sirius! After about half an hour, we finish up and walk out of the kitchen, thoroughly stuffed. We start heading back upstairs.

"That was fun!" Sirius says brightly. I chuckle.

"Yeah, we should go exploring like that more often." James says. Then he takes Remus' wrist. "Hey, why don't we explore now? Lunch isn't for two hours!" Remus groans.

"We just finished breakfast, and you're already thinking about lunch!" He cries exasperatedly.

"What else is there for them to think about?" I ask, turning to Remus and grinning. He grins back.

"Yes, you're quite right. Ah well, I'm sure if we do explore we'll find some shortcuts to help us get to classes faster. After all, this place is huge!" He replies, sighing.

"Um, guys? We're still here, ya know." Sirius pipes up, and I laugh.

"We know. So, shall we go explore?" I offer.

"Yeah, let's go!" James yells. He and Sirius charge forward like warriors on a battlefield.

"CHARGE!" They both shout goofily.

"You're both nutters." I mutter darkly under my breath. Then, they do something so stupid that I forget to be surprised: they run head first into a wall.

"We were checking to see if it was really a wall, or a tapestry just pretending." James explains dizzily. I put my head in my hands.

"What idiots!" I exclaim.

"Yeah, but they're our idiots." Remus says affectionately, and I have to agree with him. He then turns to the other two. "Now, I'm not saying you don't have the right idea or anything, but I think we should check with our hands first." He suggests, laughing. They stand up and brush themselves off. I look around, and realize that we have wandered our way up to the fourth floor. With a sudden finality, I decide to lead them to the mirror passage. It's up here, I remember. Bus as they never used it in any of the books, I have no idea where.

"Hey guys," I say, "How about we start knocking on the walls, so we can see if any of them are hollow?" I suggest. They agree, and minutes later I hear James shout.

"Hey guys! I found something!" I look towards his voice, and sure enough James is standing in front of a large mirror. I run my hand along it, but come up with nothing. Sirius knocks on it, and we hear a hollow sound.

"There's something here alright!" He whispers excitedly.

"Maybe it needs a password?" I put forward. At my words, the mirror flies forwards and knocks us all to the ground.

"What a stupid password. We should change it." James huffs angrily. We pick ourselves up from the ground and walk inside. There is a large room with a couch on one wall sitting inside. On the opposite wall, there is a door. As we walk in, the mirror shuts by itself. The room is pitch black, so I add little balls of light that can float around the room.

"Wow." We all breathe.

"Hey, look at this!" Remus says, pointing to the way we came. On the back of the mirror, there is a note.

It reads:

_Dear friend,_

_Congratulations on finding this hidden chamber and passage out of the castle! This is my hidden room, as Salazar, Rowena, and Helga have theirs. However, this one is special. If you look behind you, you'll see a door. It leads to a passage that comes up a little ways outside the village of Hogsmeade. Also, I should think you'd like to change the password from this ridiculously easy one, 'password.' Simply tap the wall and say your new password. Have fun with Gryffindor's Room!_

_Sincerely,_

_Godric Gryffindor._

"Gee, this room is old!" James says.

"So, what would we like the new password to be?" I ask.

"How about 'Marauder'? No one else knows what we call ourselves, so they won't accidentally say it!" Remus suggests. We agree, and together we tap the wall.

"Well, now that's finished, let's go to Hogsmeade!" James cries, sprinting across the room. He opens the door and we all step inside…

**A/N: I always thought that the other founders would want to have a place to go and think, not just Slytherin, even if theirs aren't as sinister. So, what do you think? Sorry it took so long. **


	4. The Detention

**A/N: Haha! I am posting again! Sorry it took so long, but my beta is having computer trouble. This chapter has not been beta'd, but I got impatient (Sorry Arina Peachy!) so I posted anyway. I'll replace it when I get it back again. Anyway, Disclaimer. I Disclaim these people and places and yada yada yada. There! Blanket disclaimer!**

"LILY EVANS!" I scream as we reach the Gryffindor table.

"Yes, Gold?" She asks irritably. No, she isn't irritated, she's being irritating.

"YOU GAVE ME THE FLU WITH YOUR STUPID ICY WATER THIS MORNING YOU'RE LUCKY MADAM POMFREY WAS ABLE TO HEAL ME!" I shriek, and then I hex her.

"Miss Gold. How – how dare you hex a fellow student like that? I am absolutely disgusted! And screaming during lunch, as well! Detention, and ten points from Gryffindor." Professor McGonagall comes running over, shouting. She lifts my hex and I scowl.

"Professor! She had every right—"

"Evans made her ILL!"

"It's true, Professor!"

"Potter, Black, Lupin, detentions as well." McGonagall states when my friends stick up for me. This is unfair! What did they do? I decide to speak up.

"Excuse me, Professor, I don't quite understand what it is they did." I interrupt angrily.

"You caused this ruckus, and they continued it. Now as I was saying, come to my office at seven this evening." With that, she marches off.

"Hey, it was worth it. You hexed Evans!" Sirius tells me. I grin, then turn to all three of my friends.

"Thanks guys… for sticking up for me. You didn't have to." They all look at me like I'm crazy.

"Don't be silly! That's what friends are for!" Sirius replies. "You know, I think we should nickname you 'Fire'." I stare at him.

"Fire?" I ask skeptically.

"Yeah, for your fiery temper!" James chimes in.

"If this were anyone but you guys, you'd be crawling towards the hospital wing by now." I state bluntly.

"Fire, you're only proving their point." Remus calls to my attention. I sigh.

Five hours later, we find ourselves standing outside McGonagall's door. All of a sudden, it flies open.

"What are you waiting for? Come in." Professor McGonagall tells us. We walk in and slouch into chairs. She clears her throat. "I assume you all know why you're here." With our nod, she continues. "Good. Today you will be clearing out my filing cabinets. They are organized in alphabetical order. You need to go through them and take out all the old seventh year folders. Here is a list of all the people whose folders must be discarded. I will be back in an hour to check on you." With that, she leaves. We hurriedly gather around to take a good look at the list as she walks out.

"There must be a hundred people on this list!" Sirius yells frustratedly.

"Relax." I tell him. "Watch this." And I summon all the seventh year folders. Every single folder extracts itself and comes flying towards me, and I grin, triumphant.

"That was brilliant!" James exclaims. Remus just looks awed.

"That's fifth year stuff, that is." He tells me softly. Realizing my mistake, I quickly think of an excuse.

"Yes, well, when I got my letter, I wanted to be able to do anything useful. I thought that this way I would have an advantage in any situation with our peers. And I figured that one would be useful." I finish as nonchalantly as possible.

"Well, it was. Now let's explore out dear professor's office. She won't be back for an hour!" Sirius yells impatiently. I chuckle, and the others all look positively gleeful.

"Alright!" James exclaims happily. "Hey, anyone know her first name?" I look at him, confused.

"No, why?" Remus inquires, my confusion clearly present on his face as well.

"I want to leave our _dear_ professor a little…. Thank you note." James says slyly.

"Well then. Looks like we've got ourselves a mission! Forward!" Sirius cries, grinning. At that, we start to thoroughly search the small room. After a few minutes, I come across a photo of Professor McGonagall transforming.

"Hey, guys, look at this! McGonagall's an animagus!" I shout, holding up the photograph. As I look at the picture, however, I remember my task. Help Sirius and James discover Remus' lycanthropy. The full moon is on Wednesday… I can start to muse "innocently" about it then, and hope for the best. I absolutely can NOT be discovered, after all. Suddenly I look up, and there is a hand waving in front of my face.

"Sam, hey! Sam!" Sirius says impatiently. "Snap out of it! We found dear old McGonagall's name!" I jerk back to reality and smile. Of course they have; it wasn't really too hard, was it? Outwardly, I ask

"Really? What is it?" Sirius makes a face.

"Minerva. Awful, isn't it?" I laugh, and nod vigorously.

"Yeah, I think she needs a nickname. 'Minnie' suits her quite well, don't you think?" James suggests, playing along. He looks at me, and I adopt a perfectly straight expression.

"Yes, I agree wholeheartedly. Remus?" I bite back a laugh.

"Minnie it is then!" He declares. We cheer, and I really do laugh.

"Well boys, I think Minnie dearest deserves to be thanked for giving us this wonderful detention. It was so productive!" I say solemnly. They break down laughing as well. Straightening up, James says

"Yes, we really must leave her a note. It's the proper and polite thing to do!" Simultaneously, we grin evilly.

"It should be nice and big, or else she won't even notice it." Remus adds. We all stare at him as if he came from an alien planet. Remus? _Helping_ with trouble? Unheard of!

"Who are you, and what have you done with Remus Lupin?" Sirius asks, voicing my thoughts. "I mean, weren't you the one who said it was 'against your better judgment' to help us with pranks?" Remus grins wickedly.

"Ah, key word is 'was' here, I believe." He snickers.

"HOORAH! REMMIE HAS SEEN SENSE!" James cries ecstatically. We all crack up. After we all calm down, we get started. We have to work quickly though, because McGonagall said she would be coming back an hour from when we started and now we only have 20 minutes. After some quick figuring, we give ourselves 15 minutes to complete the prank, so we can be safely away, _far _away, by the time she returns. Now though, it's back to me.

"Sam, do you know a spell that we can use?" Remus asks me. They look at me expectantly. _Of course._ I think to myself. After all, I'm the one who supposedly read all the hard spell textbooks. I carefully school my expression into one of deep thought, before saying

"No, but I'm pretty sure there is one. A spray paint spell of some sort. You know, to right on the wall with?" I suggest thoughtfully.

"I know one! It's great! The enchantment is _pigmentum_, and then you say the color you want. So, if you want it to be purple, it would be _pigmentum purple_." Said James excitedly. **(AN: I know it's past tense, but I just can't keep going back and fixing it. From now on, it's past tense. And maybe soon I will go back and fix the rest of the chapter, and maybe even the whole story.) **Perhaps rather too excitedly though, because when he said the spell, purple paint came spraying out of his wand and hit Sirius smack in the face. I tried to hold back my laughter, I swear I did, but—hey, what would you have done? So I threw my head back and laughed, and Sirius shot me a dirty look. That just made me laugh harder. James looked sorry, yet amused. He just stood there for a while, silently shaking with laughter. Remus solemnly put his hands on my shoulders.

"Calm." He said somberly. Then, he cracked a grin and turned to James. "Sounds perfect. Looks it, too, for that matter. How did you cancel it?" he asked curiously.

"Simple _finite_ does it." James told us.

"So, what're we going to write, and in what colors?" Sirius asked mischievously after cleaning himself off. We all sat for a moment, pondering the perfect words to write. After a minute, Sirius spoke again. "How about 'Dearest Minnie, thanks for the detention! It was fun, but we've got to run! Signed, your favorite first years!" he suggested, grinning.

"I love it!" James cried. Remus and I nodded in agreement.

"But what color?" I mused thoughtfully. After thinking for a moment, I came up with the perfect solution. "I know, rainbow! And I know of a charm that can make the colors flash, so each letter can be a different color of the rainbow, so it'll look like it's moving sideways!" I remembered the charm Hermione had done on Harry's 'Potter for President' poster in the first book and grinned with satisfaction. I had looked that one up as soon as I could, and it would work perfectly.

"It sounds brilliant!" Sirius said happily.

"Okay, let's get started." Remus said, going into work mode. And so we wrote. A few minutes later, the message was successfully painted onto the door, and it was most definitely flashing. It looked _awesome_. With a final glance at our masterpiece, the four of us hurried out of the office. However, as we were rushing away from the so-called 'scene of the crime', I had an idea. Grinning maliciously, I turned to the boys.

"Hey, guys, I'll be right back." I said.

_Sirius's POV_

Sam turned and ran back the way we came, not paying any attention to us when we called after her. We just stood there for a moment, before James spoke.

"Wonder what she's doing?" he mused thoughtfully. I made a face.

"Dunno, but I hope it's worth getting in trouble for! McGonagall'll be here any minute!" I said with a note of urgency in my voice. At my words, Remus paled and sped up. Clearly, he isn't completely comfortable with the whole breaking rules concept. I voiced my thoughts to James when he called ahead to Remus, asking him why.

"Bet he's worried about getting caught…" I trailed off. Remus whirled around suddenly.

"That's right! I'm not stupid. I'll see you guys in the common room. Have fun escaping!" He scowled as he spoke. When he was gone, James turned to me, grinning.

"So, wanna go see what she's up to?" He asked me. Now it was my turn to be surprised. I mean yeah, we do like to break the rules, but I really don't want to get caught. Merlin knows what she's doing, but it's easier for one person to get away than three. I wasted no time in telling him my fears, but it turned out they were for naught. James has an Invisibility Cloak! He told me before anyone else, but now he's decided to tell Sam and Remus as well. It's too late for Remus to come with us now though, so we decided to show him when we got back.

"Wow." I said reverently. I had never seen an Invisibility Cloak before, and I was looking forward to using it. James grinned at me and swung it over our heads, and we set off back up the hall to see what Sam was up to. It's a good thing he had it on him, though, because not long after we had covered ourselves, we nearly bowled over Professor Flitwick. He knew we were supposed to be in detention, so it's a good thing he didn't see us! We rounded the corner and crept up behind Sam, who was adding a little decoration to our message.

"Pssst! Hey! Sam!" James whispered hoarsely. She looked around, confused, and together we grandly swept off the cloak.

_Sam's POV_

I whipped around when I heard James's voice calling out to me, seemingly from nowhere. I knew they were under the cloak, but I had to act like I was confused. Thank God I'm a good actor! I stared around for a minute, trying to find the source of the noise, when Sirius and James appeared in front of me, having removed the cloak with a flourish.

"Whoa! Where did you guys come from?" I asked, jumping violently. Perhaps I played up the surprise a bit too much, but it doesn't really matter.

"We were right here this whole time!" Sirius told me matter-of-factly. I put on my best bemused face.

"No you weren't; I would have seen you!" I exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Ah ah ah!" James wagged a finger and held up the Invisibility Cloak. I stared at it.

"A cloak? You were hiding under a cloak?" I asked skeptically. They gasped, and Sirius clutched his heart dramatically.

"It hurts! It hurts!" he cried. James laughed, but I just stared. Again. It seems I'm doing quite a lot of that lately.

"Excuse me, but what hurts? You were hiding under a cloak. I just pointed that out." I told them.

"Ah, but this isn't just any old cloak! It's an Invisibility Cloak!" James said, smiling widely.

"It makes you invisible." Sirius added unnecessarily.  
>"Yeah, I gathered that much." I said dryly.<p>

"It's been in my family for ages! My dad gave it to me for my eleventh birthday." James said proudly.

"It's awesome, mate!" I told him excitedly. Just then, they noticed my little _addition_ to our message.

"What's that you've added to our lovely masterpiece?" Sirius asked me. Grinning broadly, I explained to them about who Walt Disney is, and how one of his characters is named Minnie Mouse. By the time I finish my story, they're both rolling on the floor, laughing like idiots. (Oh wait. They **are** idiots.)

"Hey guys, where's Remus?" I asked after we had all calmed down. They explained to me how they hadn't had time to show Remus the cloak before he had stormed off, and I decided that it was his loss. We were just turning to go when James had the brilliant idea to stay and watch McGonagall's reaction. After all, she was due back any minute. So we huddled under the cloak and awaited her return. Less than a minute later, we heard "Minnie" round the corner. When she saw her door, she stopped short, screeching.

"WHAT?! Minnie? What is the meaning of this? Those little brats!" She ranted. We had to stuff our fists in our mouths to keep from laughing. 'Minnie' turned on her heel and stormed off.

"She's probably gone to get Filch to clean it off." James said dejectedly.

"Ah well. That's the end of our prank, I guess." Sirius muttered. I just grinned and shook my head.

"Not if I can help it!" I whispered back, shooting a sticking charm at it. They looked at me confusedly. "Sticking Charm. Filch is a Squib, so he shouldn't be able to get it to budge!" I explained.

"Great idea! You're brilliant! Now let's get out of here!" James said hurriedly. We rushed together back up to the common room, only taking off the cloak at the Fat Lady.

"The Marauders have struck!" Sirius declared victoriously in the doorway. We spotted Remus sitting in an armchair by the fire, and raced towards him. "Hey Rem! We have something awesome to show you! C'mere! Let's go upstairs!" Sirius said quickly, and before Remus knew it he was being towed up the stairs at top speed.

"Okay, what is it?" He asked, a little warily, once we were settled. Instead of telling him, we showed him. We stood, and as one swept the cloak back over our heads. He stared at the place we had disappeared from. "Wow! An Invisibility Cloak! Those are really rare!" He exclaimed excitedly, but then slowed down a bit. "Hey, have you been keeping it a secret from me?" he asked dejectedly. I slipped out from under the cloak and went to look him in the eye.

"No way would we do that. You're our best friend! Why would we leave you out?" I told him calmly. His face brightened immensely.

"You really mean it?" He asked hopefully. I nodded, and I sensed James and Sirius stepping out from under the cloak and doing the same.

"Of course we do. Marauders are forever." James said, and we all piled our hands up, one on top of another. Normally this would seem childish, but in this instance, it was just solemn, and it felt so right. We were showing the world that it could never tear us apart.

"So, how _did_ you get it?"


End file.
